How to Make Macaroons

Macaroons are typically displayed in French patisserie windows in an array of vibrant colours, all with delicious fillings! So whether you are throwing an elegant tea party, or simply want to bring a little ‘Vive La France!’ to your own humble abode, trying your hand at these cute little cakes is sure to go down a treat with guests!

Macaroons Ingredients:

175g of Icing Sugar

110ml of Liquid Egg Whites (or whites from 3 large eggs)

125g of Ground Almonds

75g of Caster Sugar

Pink Food Colouring Gel

White Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients:

75g of Softened Butter

1 tbsp of Double Cream

50g of Good Quality White Chocolate

150g of Icing Sugar

Raspberry Filling Equipment:

1 tbsp of Cornflour

300g of Raspberries (fresh or frozen)

2 tbsp of Water

100g of Caster Sugar

Equipment:

METHOD: White Chocolate and Raspberry Macaroons

First you need to pre-heat your oven to 130°C (150°C Fan/Gas mark 2) then prepare 2 baking sheets with non-stick greaseproof paper. Measure out the icing sugar and ground almonds and put these into a food processor, turn on and leave to beat while you whisk up the egg whites.

Pour the measured egg whites into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until soft peaks are formed. At this stage you’ll want to add the caster sugar a third at a time until it’s all worked in, glossy in appearance and thick in texture.

Next, add in the pink food colouring, a drop at a time, until fully incorporated. Retrieve your blended almond and icing sugar mixture and sift half of it into the meringue mixture, then carefully fold in using a metal spoon or spatula. Sift in the other half and fold in again. Discard any lumps remaining in the sieve.

Continue folding the mixture in a figure-of-8 until completely smooth and glossy; this may take 1 to 2 minutes. Once your mixture is the right consistency, you should be able to hold your spoon or spatula over the mixture and it should leave a ribbon-like trail behind.

Spoon your macaroon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain wide 1cm nozzle. Retrieve your prepared baking trays and pipe small circles of mixture onto the paper, then set the trays aside for about 30 minutes to settle.

After 30 minutes, they should have formed a slight skin, and you should be able to touch the tops with your fingertip. Place your macaroons in the oven to cook for 13 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the trays.

Now it’s time to make the buttercream and the raspberry filling. Beat the softened butter until completely smooth, then sift in the icing sugar and carefully beat well together. Add in a tablespoon of double cream to help it come together. Melt the white chocolate and then mix into the icing sugar and butter mix. Place this into the fridge for half an hour to thicken and cool.

Now make a jam filling! Tumble the raspberries into a saucepan with sugar and water over a low heat. Stir thoroughly and regularly to soften the raspberries, and mash up with a spoon. Keep on the heat until you have a liquid mixture.

Put the cornflour into a small bowl and mix a spoonful of the sauce into the cornflour to create a smooth paste. Tip this back into the saucepan and stir well. Continue to heat until thick. Now, you want to sieve the raspberry sauce into a bowl to remove all the seeds - but be careful - the mixture will be molten hot! The mixture will cool and thicken, but you can always heat the mixture up if it’s not thick enough. Allow to cool completely in a bowl before filling the macaroons.

Pipe small rounds of buttercream around the outside edge of one macaroon using a number 43 nozzle, or just a star shaped one. Next, spoon jam into the middle and pop another macaroon on the top. Voila, there you have it, beautiful pink macaroons ready to enjoy!